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Two blown leads

The Pirates seemed to have the game locked up tonight, winning 7-1 after four innings. San Diego came back, and after the Bucs took the lead back, the bullpen continued their streak of bad appearances and blew the second lead of the game. The 9-8 loss was probably the most disappointing of the season, especially because the Padres are very beatable. The Bucs are now 5-7 in their last 12 games.

James McDonald, who has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, was roughed up. He gave up a home run to the first batter of the game, but then pitched three straight 1-2-3 innings as the Pirates’ offense took off. They had runners on the corners with no outs in the first, but couldn’t score. Starling Marte drove in the first run with an RBI-single in the second. Garrett Jones cleared the deck with a solo shot in the third, and Travis Snider absolutely hammered his first home run as a Pirate. The three-run shot made it 5-1, and Edinson Volquez was pulled one batter later. With two outs, Pedro put the Bucs up 7-1 run a two-run rope up the middle, and the game looked to be a done deal.

J-Mac gave up a one-out walk, followed by a single. Jesus Guzman drove in two with a double, and a single drove in another. McDonald really should have been out of the game by then, and he clearly just didn’t have his best stuff. Clint Hurdle left him in (obviously to become eligible for the win), and he served up a game-tying three-run bomb to Chase Headley. J-Mac was finally pulled for Chris Resop, who pitched two no-hit innings.

The Bucs worked some two-out magic to untie the game when Rod Barajas served a single into RF to make it 8-7. Tony Watson came in with one out in the seventh, walked a batter, and gave up another home run to Headley, who had now hit one from both sides of the plate. The back end of the Padres bullpen shut down the Pirates, and Huston Street closed it out. Such a frustrating loss. It’s just one game, of course, but this one hurts.